Mars was once home to a body of water larger than the Arctic Ocean, according to a new investigation. Maps of water in the Martian atmosphere show as much as one-fifth of the world may have once been covered by a giant body of water.
Mars is a desert world today, but significant evidence suggests large amounts of water may have been present on that world in the distant past. Analysis of water in the Martian atmosphere could help show how the substance left the surface of the planet.
Future examination of the atmospheric water maps could reveal the locations of underground reservoirs on the Red Planet. Analysis of water in the Martian atmosphere was conducted by astronomers, using ground-based telescopes. Astronomers searched the area above the planet, looking for concentrations of normal water compared with HDO molecules, where one of the hydrogen atoms is replaced by deuterium, a heavy form of the lightest element. Comparison of these measurements to readings taken from a Martian meteorite from 4.5 billion years ago can reveal how much water was lost to the Martian atmosphere, and to space, during that time.
The northern and southern ice caps of Mars hold most of the water on the surface of Mars today. The features could also reveal more information about the development of water on Mars over the last 3.7 billion years, since the end of the wet Noachian period.
Life is found everywhere on Earth where water can be found. Researchers want to know if life might have developed on the Red Planet long ago, and if such alien life might still be found today under the surface of the planet.
The ancient ocean on Mars may have covered 19 percent of the land area on the Red Planet, compared to the Atlantic Ocean, which covers over 17 percent of the Earth.
"With Mars losing that much water, the planet was very likely wet for a longer period of time than was previously thought, suggesting it might have been habitable for longer," Michael Mumma of the Goddard Space Flight Center, said.
Astronomers believe that 4.3 billion years ago, Mars might have possessed enough water on its surface to cover the entire planet to a depth of 450 feet. Examination of the planet suggests that most of that water was concentrated in a single ocean, stretching over half of the northern hemisphere of the Red Planet.
"Our study provides a solid estimate of how much water Mars once had, by determining how much water was lost to space. With this work, we can better understand the history of water on Mars," Geronimo Villanueva from the Goddard Space Flight Center, told the press.
